Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast is a major exhibition celebrating some of the iconic images from the past century of fashion as the publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair and Glamour opens up its photography archive to the public. Spanning the past 100 years, the exhibition includes images by Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton and Mario Testino.
Produced by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (based in the United States and Europe) the exhibition also looks at early work by luminaries such as Horst P. Horst, Erwin Blumenfeld, David Bailey, Guy Bourdin, Corinne Day, Deborah Turbeville and Sølve Sundsbø.

The collection of images, selected by photography curator Nathalie Herschdorfer, show the sharp contrast in the first fashion photographs from the early 20th century compared to the modern day. With unprecedented access to the Condé Nast archives in New York, Paris, London and Milan, Herschdorfer navigated through millions of original prints and pages from the actual magazines to create a collection that showcases a taste of every era.

Model wearing a tight-fitting brown rayon dress with draped torso, a Vogue pattern, together with mink fur hat and stole from Gunther’s.

“I was not looking for specific photographers or icons,” she says. “I wanted to make a selection that represented the history of fashion photography but also included those iconic photos that stood well enough on their own, across any era,” Herschdorfer said.
“Some images made in the 1940s could still work today on a magazine cover. They belong to a specific period but are still visually strong today, without regard to the page it was on, the era it came from or the product it was selling,” she said.

Gallery Director Tracy Cooper-Lavery agrees, “Coming into Fashion allows us access to some of the most significant and stylish images in fashion history. The exhibition brings together 100 years of the world’s greatest fashion photography; ranging from 1920s shots of Broadway actresses to some of the most recognisable photos of the supermodel era. It is such a thrill for Gold Coast City Gallery to be the only venue in Australia presenting the exhibition in its entirety.

Model with head and forearms sticking through white board or paper, wearing olive glove, bracelets, and applying lipstick

The Gallery and The Arts Centre Gold Coast will be presenting an exciting array of public programs to accompany the exhibition including talks by international curators through to hands-on workshops and master classes,” Cooper-Lavery said.

Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast opens at the Gold Coast City Gallery 25 November, 2017 and will run until 18 February, 2018.